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☆ With 'Flamin' Hot' movie set to premiere at SXSW, its producer tackles claims about the central character's role in creating the spicy Cheetos flavor and reveals how Eva Longoria won the director job
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Reed Alexander | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

The movie "Flamin' Hot" celebrates Mexican heritage and the invention of Flamin' Hot Cheetos. An LA Times report raised doubt about the role of the film's protagonist, Richard Montañez, in creating the flavor. Impressed with the unlikely entrepreneur, Enrico gave it a try — and thus, Flamin' Hot Cheetos were born, and Montañez's career took off. Eva Longoria directed the new film "Flamin' Hot." The LA Times article, amongst journalists and amongst this small group of people, may get some traction.

☆ TikTok's rising stars every year since 2019 show how much the app has changed — and stayed the same
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Amanda Perelli | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

When TikTok first gained popularity, it was known for lip syncing, dancing, and viral challenges. We used data from Famous Birthdays to see the breakout TikTokers each year since 2019. TikTok's first homegrown influencers, like Charli D'Amelio and Addison Rae Easterling, grew in popularity with dancing and lip syncing videos filmed from their childhood bedrooms. From analyzing searches on its platform, Famous Birthdays is able to identify which creators are rising in real time. Here were the rising stars on TikTok each year since 2019, according to data from Famous Birthdays:

☆ Elon Musk sides with Dilbert cartoonist after newspapers dropped him for making a racist rant
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk made the comments in defence of "Dilbert" creator Scott Adams. Adams was dropped by newspapers after making racist claims about Black Americans. Musk said the media is racist against white people, and made no criticism of Adams' claims. "For a *very* long time, US media was racist against non-white people, now they're racist against whites & Asians," Musk tweeted in response to the move. Musk's tweets came after the Dilbert creator suggested white Americans "get the hell away from Black people" in a YouTube video.

☆ A California man set a new world record after making 2,995 visits to Disneyland, going every single day for more than 8 years
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Stephanie Stacey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Jeff Reitz, 50, made 2,995 consecutive visits to Disneyland between 2012 and 2020. He began his daily trips while he was unemployed to distract himself from job-hunting, per LA Times. Jeff Reitz, 50, from Huntington Beach, California made 2,995 consecutive visits to Disneyland in Anaheim between 2012 and 2020. His achievement was finally enshrined as a world record last week after Guinness World Records created a new category to honor Reitz's Disneyland devotion. That left him just five days shy of his initial goal of 3,000 consecutive visits, per the LA Times.

☆ A man who rates Google search results said he makes $3 less per hour than his daughter working in fast food
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A man who rates Google search results told the LA Times he makes $3 less than his daughter who has a fast food job. "There are times that I have seen some of the graphic content replayed in my dreams," Stackhouse told the Times. Stackhouse didn't tell the Los Angeles Times how much his daughter makes or what her role at her fast food job is. Four Sama workers told Time they were paid $2 or less per hour. Sama also works with Google and Microsoft, and told Time it would stop working with graphic content by March 2023.

☆ The house that helped secure Sam Bankman-Fried's $250 million bail package reportedly sits on land his parents leased from Stanford
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Sam Bankman-Fried's parents lease the land for their home from Stanford, the LA Times reports. They'd put up the $4 million home as collateral for the former FTX CEO's $250 million bail release. Bail terms are about flight-risk rather than if collateral can cover the full amount, legal experts said. The revelation once again prompts questions about how and why courts set bail terms, which are meant to ensure that a defendant doesn't flee while awaiting trial. Prosecutors are now also arguing that Bankman-Fried's bail restrictions must go further, and impose limits on whom he communicates with and how.

☆ Tesla driver taken from hospital to jail without bail after being accused of intentionally driving his family off a cliff
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A man accused of intentionally driving off a cliff was moved from a hospital to jail, local news reported. The San Mateo District Attorney's Office said the driver was booked without bail. Authorities are seeking to rule out any mechanical issues with the Tesla, including brake failure. The San Mateo District Attorney's Office did not respond to a request for comment from Insider ahead of publication. The San Mateo County Sheriff's Office said in a tweet on January 2 that the children were "unharmed" at the time of rescue.

☆ The Oscars snubs of 'The Woman King' and 'Till' shows why #OscarsSoWhite is still trending in Hollywood
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Marguerite Ward | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

"The Woman King" and "Till" got zero nominations for this year's Academy Awards. The snubs show Hollywood still undervalues Black creatives, especially Black women. The film led box-office charts when it debuted in September, and had some in Hollywood expecting the movie to nab spots for best picture, best director, or best actress. And this is the second year in a row in which no Black woman was nominated for the best actress trophy. For critics, the snubs of "The Woman King" and "Till" are proof that the Academy still doesn't give Black talent, particularly Black women, a fair chance to be recognized.

☆ The Pool of Siloam, where the Bible says Jesus healed a blind man, will be open to the public for the first time in nearly 2,000 years
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Pool of Siloam will be fully excavated and open to the public for the first time in almost 2,000 years. The New Testament says it is where Jesus performed the miracle of healing a blind man. The pool originally functioned as part of Jerusalem's ancient water system, later becoming a site of religious significance for ancient Jewish people. A water company carrying out infrastructure work for a sewage pipe accidentally discovered steps to the pool, Israeli authorities said in the statement. Moshe Lion, Jerusalem's mayor, described the Pool of Siloam in a statement as "a site of historic, national, and international significance."

☆ Tesla needs to separate itself from Elon Musk's personality to win back investors after 75% crash, NYU's 'dean of valuation' says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Matthew Fox | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Tesla needs to separate itself from Elon Musk's personality to win back investors, according to NYU's Aswath Damodaran. Shares of Tesla have cratered more than 70% from their record high as investors grow concerned about Musk's focus on Twitter. "You're no longer buying a company, you're buying a human being," Damodaran said. "It's a danger buying a company that's so closely tied to a personality that you're no longer buying a company you're buying a human being," Damodaran said. Meanwhile, a Tesla shareholder in Iceland submitted a resolution for Tesla investors to vote on in May as to whether the board of directors should prepare and maintain a key-risk report, according to the LA Times.

☆ I tried to buy a week's worth of groceries at Erewhon, a high-end grocery store in Los Angeles. I quickly blew through my budget, but I'd shop there again.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Samantha Delouya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Some may poke fun at LA's obsessive health culture, but Erewhon seems to have a legion of loyal fans, and it's setting its sights on expansion: the grocery chain is reportedly looking to open a new store on the East Coast. "We are looking at New York City; it's definitely on the plate," owner Tony Antoci told the LA Times last year. Samantha DelouyaSource: LA Times

☆ These top deputies of Sam Bankman-Fried were former regulators who tried to expand FTX's reach in Washington, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Some of Sam Bankman-Fried's top advisers were former officials at the CFTC and SEC, according to the LA Times. And in August 2021, Wetjen requested a meeting with CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam and his chief of staff. "Reaching out to seek some time to discuss with you a LedgerX matter of considerable urgency," Wetjen wrote to Behnam. Behnam was forthright about his meeting with Bankman-Fried when asked on December 1 by the Senate Agriculture Committee, and said the meeting was related to FTX's clearinghouse application. Bankman-Fried."

Fans of Megan Thee Stallion are trying to shift the public’s attention away from what they believe to be a misogynistic narrative around the current trial against Tory Lanez, who is accused of shooting the rapper in the foot. Digital alchemy is the practice of Black women and women of color using the internet to combat and counter misogynoir. “Especially for Black women, violence against women in our community is very common.”She noticed that online a lot of fans are calling out people who are highlighting Pete’s sexual history. “People have called it the Meg and Tory trial when she’s not on trial for anything,” Lindsey, who is author of “America Goddam: Violence, Black Women, and The Struggle for Justice,” said. “When people talk about Megan Thee Stallion getting shot, all the headlines are Megan Thee Stallion is on trial and I’m not on trial!”Hernandez said supporters recognize that slut shaming is being used to discredit Pete and paint her as an imperfect victim.

☆ A topless bar unlawfully fired strippers after they complained about unsafe working conditions, labor board finds
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Star Garden bar strippers were unlawfully fired, the National Labor Relations Board said . They dancers said they worked in unsafe conditions including rat infestations and rusty nails. The group of strippers were blocked from working at the Star Garden in February and have since been staging regular demonstrations outside the venue. They claimed that Star Garden committed 30 breaches of OSHA regulations that "protect workers' rights to safe and healthy workplaces." The women submitted a petition in March calling for the Star Garden to treat them with "basic dignity and humanity."

☆ An ex-senior Twitter employee laid off by Elon Musk says the way job cuts were executed was 'inhumane'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk's handling of Twitter's layoffs was "inhumane," an ex-Twitter worker said, per the LA Times. Some Twitter staff found out they'd been laid off when they were locked out of work laptops. Since losing his job, Shevat has filed arbitration claims against Elon Musk with the help of attorney Lisa Bloom, per the LA Times. "The way Elon Musk executed the layoffs was really inhumane," Shevat said in the conference, cited by the LA Times. Thousands of Twitter employees have been laid off, resigned, or fired since Musk took over.

CNN —Lawyers for Amber Heard officially appealed her loss in a defamation case brought by Johnny Depp, arguing there were several errors in the trial, according to reporting from the Los Angeles Times. The case will now go to a three-judge court of appeals panel for a decision, according the LA Times. CNN has reached out to attorneys representing Heard and Depp for comment and to obtain a copy of the appeals. The jury awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million dollars in punitive damages. Heard filed the appeal with the Court of Appeals in Virginia on November 23, according to the LA Times.

☆ More than 6,000 immigrants were affected by an ICE data leak after an excel sheet with identifying info about people fleeing torture was accidentally made public for 5 hours
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

ICE accidentally leaked personal info of more than 6,000 immigrants who applied for protections. The agency said the leak, which they said was "unintentional," was left up for five hours. Human rights organization Human Rights First notified the agency of the massive leak on Monday, the Los Angeles Times reported. Immigration advocates said the leak created grave security risks for the migrants, even if the data was deleted. "ICE cannot be trusted with people's data," Oliver Merino, a coordinator for the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, told Insider.

☆ Award-winning actor John Leguizamo says the lack of Latino representation in Hollywood is 'cultural apartheid'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Eboni Boykin-Patterson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

John Leguizamo is an Emmy and Tony award-winning actor, and he's calling out Hollywood. In an open letter to Hollywood, he says it's way past time that Latinos have more lead roles. In an "Open Letter to Hollywood" published in the LA Times, Leguizamo said the time for more Latino representation in film, TV, and plays is way past overdue. Leguizamo argued that the absence of Latinos onscreen isn't even reflective of the city in which Hollywood resides. Latino representation also means including Latinos of all hues, since "more often than not," the Latinos who are cast in major roles are "white-passing."

☆ Elon Musk's futuristic Hyperloop prototype tube has been removed from its place near SpaceX's California headquarters
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The Hyperloop prototype tube was removed from its location outside of SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif, reports say. The above-ground test tunnel was installed in 2016, but sat idle for years, according to the LA Times. The LA Times reported that Hawthorne Council member Angie Reyes English asked city staff to request the removal of the tube. According to the LA Times, it drew complaints from pedestrians and motorists before the city stepped in to have it dismantled. The ambitious invention would reportedly cut the commute from Los Angeles to San Francisco down to 35 minutes, LA Times reported.

☆ How baseless conspiracy theories about the attack on Nancy Pelosi's husband spread into the GOP mainstream
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Conspiracy theories spread fast after Nancy Pelosi's husband was attacked in their home. He also asserted that the motive for the attack was unclear, although the attacker published a blog expressing support for far-right conspiracy theories and told police he wanted to break Nancy Pelosi's knees. Carlson's monologue alluded to conspiracy theories about the attack that spread across social media over the weekend, the goal of which seems to be to absolve Republicans of blame for possibly inspiring the attacker. DePape he said, is "a man who committed political violence because he was consumed by these right-wing conspiracy theories about how depraved the left is, and they're turning it into a new conspiracy theory about how depraved the left is." They also claimed police statements suggested that a third individual had let police into the property to stop the attack.

☆ Donald Trump Jr posts 'Paul Pelosi Halloween costume' image mocking hammer attack on House Speaker's husband
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Donald Trump Jr. shared a joke image mocking the attack on Paul Pelosi. He retweeted an image late Sunday night that shows a hammer lying on top of a pair of white underpants with the comment: "Got my Paul Pelosi Halloween costume ready." Trump Jr. wrote: "The internet remains undefeated … Also if you switch out the hammer for a red feather boa you could be Hunter Biden in an instant." San Francisco Police said Paul Pelosi was "violently assaulted" in the couple's California home early on October 28. Paul Pelosi was hospitalized with a fractured skull and is expected to make a full recovery, Pelosi's office said.

☆ Paul Pelosi secretly called 911 while in front of the intruder and spoke in 'code' to dispatcher to convey what was happening: 'Why are you here? What are you going to do to me?'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | Taiyler Simone Mitchell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The 911 dispatcher knew something was wrong based on what she could overhear and alerted police. Sources told the Los Angeles Times Paul Pelosi told the intruder he needed to use the bathroom and called 911 after stepping away, leaving the line open. The Times reported dispatcher Heather Grimes overheard Paul Pelosi and the intruder talking and alerted police to the situation. John Miller, the outlet's chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst, said Paul Pelosi secretly called 911 somehow and left the line open. "Paul Pelosi is basically trying to tell her in code what's going on: 'Why are you here?

☆ People who live next to an LA airport frequented by jet-setters are complaining about the fumes getting worse
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

More and more private jets, as well as charter planes, are using the Van Nuys Airport in LA, creating more fumes. VNY, the call letters for Van Nuys Airport, is a general aviation airport, meaning it's for public use, and does not usually have commercial service. Another San Fernando Valley resident told the LA Times she wouldn't let her son go outside because of the fumes. In 2020, there was a 300% increase year over year in first-time private jet fliers, Robb Report reported. Gutierrez-Hedges said she wanted to see a curfew for private jet take-offs and landings, and a study on the air quality.

LOS ANGELES, Oct 17 (Reuters) - The Los Angeles Dodgers' historically great season came to a heartbreaking end on Saturday when the title favorites crashed out of the playoffs in the Divisional Round and now face major personnel decisions this off-season. "It's hard to even think about it right now," Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman said after Saturday's game. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThe Dodgers have made 10 consecutive post-season appearances with their lone title during that stretch coming in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. There is also the case of speedy shortstop Trea Turner, who is set to become a highly sought-after free agent this off-season. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Ken FerrisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Behind the bombshells: How the LA Times used secret recordings to expose racism at the highest levels of city government
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The account tagged two reporters at the Los Angeles Times, as well as the newspaper’s politics account. More conference calls were held early Sunday morning until the reporters and editors agreed on a final draft. President Joe Biden even weighed in, calling on the three council members caught on the tapes, all Democrats, to resign. The other two council members have not stepped down. And the paper has been publishing stories daily, covering the fallout while still trying to determine who is behind the leaked audio.

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